BY DR. MEHMET OZ, MD AND DR. MICHAEL ROIZEN, MD -  ShareCare

Idris Elba may be the busiest man in show biz, with seven movies in post-production or filming. And while he’s always intense, his portrayal of a solider slowly unraveling in the 2010 movie Legacy was enough to make anyone’s heart skip a beat.

Now the LEGACY Study from Australia reveals that if you have atrial fibrillation (or a-fib, an irregular heart beat that can lead to stroke that’s getting more common in people over age 65) a great way to help stop the heart from stuttering is to lose weight and keep it off. Researchers followed 355 obese people with a-fib for four years: 45% of participants who lost at least 10% of their body weight had no symptoms of a-fib -- without taking any medication.

About 5.2 million people in North America have a-fib. That number is expected to more than double to around 12.1 million by 2030, fueled by the fact that 70% of adults are overweight or obese. Most of you with a-fib will benefit enormously from shedding 10% of your weight -- and not regaining it. And for rest of you at risk of developing a-fib, wouldn’t it be smart to re-do your lifestyle by increasing physical activity and upgrading your nutrition?

It takes hard work to reduce your weight, but we hope knowing about such profound health benefits will inspire you to remake your future.